At present it requires three separate instruments to test and troubleshoot a failed/failing fiber span to determine where the problem may lie. The first two instruments are an optical power meter (OPM) and a matching optical light source, ‘matching’ defined as the light source operating on wavelengths the OPM is designed to detect and measure. The third instrument is a visual fault indicator (VFI) embodied as a visible light source, typically a laser emitting in the visible spectrum. If a fiber span fails the loss test, one of the two testing instruments must be removed and replaced with the visual fault indicator in order to locate the fault causing the loss test failure.
The use of these separate test instruments is time consuming, cumbersome, and can result in damage to the optical connector on the fiber span under test and/or the test port optical connector.
Accordingly, improved testing apparatus for optical fibers is desired. In particular, testing apparatus that reduce or eliminate the requirement for multiple separate instruments, and that thus reduce the associated time and risk involved in such testing, would be advantageous.